Construction continues with Victor Project.

• Author: Stewart, Nick
• Position: De Beers Canada Inc. builds a diamond mine

Multiple tasks are pushing forward in an effort to develop what is expected to be Ontario's first diamond mine.

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"There's a whole range of stuff that we need to do," says Jeremy Wyeth, vice-president, De Beers Canada's Victor Project.

More than 300 workers are on the ground building the foundation, constructing a substation and activating de-watering pump tests at the $982 million mine site, located 90 kilometres west of Attawapiskat.

The foundation is being poured which will make way for a new process plant facility to be constructed during the winter months.

Although it was initially expected to become functional in October 2008, the short winter season caused De Beers to reprioritize and perform additional work to the site. It is now expected to come into operation between April and June, 2008.

"With the warm winter, we were unable to do some of the test trench work we were planning," he says, so instead workers stripped the process plant site.

Once completed, crews were able to schedule the transport of process equipment for this upcoming winter.

"This gave us an opportunity to pull (the) schedule forward."

Final work is also being done to the on-site substation, which will allow De Beers to connect the power line from the mine site to Attawapiskat.

"There is some surplus power on the Five Nations energy power line that runs up the coast from the Moosonee area right up to Attawapiskat, so we will be linking up to that and drawing some power from that line," says Wyeth. "By early October, we should be in a position to energize that line."

Having recently completed a road and pipeline leading to the Attawapiskat River, the company is currently conducting de-watering pump tests, which was initially planned during its environmental assessment phase.

"This pump test will give us additional information for the design of all the our wells," says Wyeth. "And we now have access from where the well is, all the way to the Attawapiskat River".

In anticipation of the completion of this work, De Beers is also drilling de-watering wells right into the new year.

The upcoming months will find De Beers completing the work it was...